Tuesday, November 11, 2008

This whole season (Part Three) has been about "Villains." Why they felt the need to title last night's episode "Villains" and even change up the show's logo, I'm not sure. 'Cuz the only villain on the show last night was Arthur Petrelli.

Even good ol' Linderman was warm and fuzzy compared to the ice-water that runs through Papa Petrelli's veins. His plan to kill off son Nathan was thwarted when Linderman healed the scars in Angela's mind created by Arthur's mind control. (Hmmm, seems like Arthur's power is a bit like the Haitian's....)

I was pretty sure the soup Angela served Arthur was poisoned and I was right. "I lied. It's not your mother's recipe," Angela tells Arthur. The Haitian is there to help dispose of the body, but Nathan's arrival prevents that. Although the doctor tells Angela and Nathan that Arthur is dead, Arthur--even paralyzed--is still alive and able to use his mind control on him.

And that's the backstory of how Arthur Petrelli--who allegedly died in Season One--is back wreaking havoc in the world of the Heroes. It also explains why he's so pissed at Angela...

The rest of the episode focused on some of the other so-called villains' pasts--but by the time the show was over, you feel even more sympathy for Angela, Elle and even poor manipulated Sylar. At times it seemed a bit retrofitted and reverse engineered, but we got to revisit the car accident where Nathan's flying powers manifested--re-edited to include a confrontation with Arthur.

Claire's bio-Mom Meredith was featured prominently--which leads me to believe she'll be playing a much larger role this season compared to seasons past. Eric Roberts--looking pretty damn hot!--was also back as Agent Thompson. But he was killed at the end of season one, so it's doubtful he'll be seeing any more action this season.

But even his character was inbued with a softer side--as he cut Meredith free after learning that she was told Claire was dead. Flint, the fire guy who was one of the bad guys who escaped from level five at the beginning of the season, is Meredith's brother. With the exception of his fire-powers, he's not the brightest bulb in the world. "They're tricking you 'cuz you're dumb," Meredith tells him regarding his belief that the company is going to make him an agent. "God gave you a big sister instead of a brain."

The biggest piece of re-engineering was the Sylar plotline: it appears none other than Elle and Noah Bennet helped create the monster out of mild-mannered Gabriel Gray. Yes, so distraught over killing his first victim, Gabriel was about to commit suicide. Only to be rescued by Elle, who shoots a bolt of electricity and severs the noose. There seemed to be some sparks between Elle and Gabriel--and not just the ones that shoot out of her fingertips. Perhaps we'll see a romance between the two later on this season...

Electricity girl was not there by accident--she was working with Noah Bennet to get Sylar to demonstrate his powers. After the contrived crossing of paths, Bennet snarks to Elle, "Cute meet."

While the meeting with Elle and Sylar may not have been random, the episode featured several paths crossing (Mohinder as a cabbie for Noah Bennet, for one). Seems like Heroes is taking some cues from LOST...

The whole episode was part of Hiro's spirit walk--and upon awaking, Hiro is compelled to warn Nathan and Angela about Arthur. Uh, note to Hiro: You're too late! But he found that out soon enough, making the gruesome discovery of the beheaded tribal guy. (Aw, poor tribal guy! We hardly knew ye! Perhaps Hiro will go back in time and fix it...) The killer? None other than big baddy Arthur Petrelli--who turns his mind control towards Hiro in an attempt to make his head explode (At least that's what I THINK happened to poor tribal guy!).

Yeah, Arthur's a villain all right...I'm predicting Ando will somehow come to the rescue. Maybe by waving those hallucenogenic fumes under Arthur's nose?